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"Shelly was always where David Miscavige was," Remini told ABC News in 2015.

"It was a wedding of the century … it was like, "where's Shelly?'

"It's such a simple thing. It's a big wedding that the leader of the Church is here and his wife isn't. It's getting weirder because you're making it weirder," Remini said, claiming anyone she tried to ask wouldn't give her a straight answer.

Nancy Many, who left Scientology in 1996, said Remini was "attacked" when she asked about Shelly's disappearance.

"Leah asked about David's wife and came under an unbelievable torrent of attack on her, an attack and inquisition," Many told Reuters in 2013.

Nine months after Remini questioned the whereabouts of her friend, Shelly made what has remained her final public appearance.

In her December 2016 series Scientology and the Aftermath, Remini said LAPD's response left her with more questions.

"There's still answers that I need. I do not know that she is alive. I do not know that she's not being held against her will," she said.

"I do not know these things and so if the church produces her, by bringing her to an event, even if she went on a program and said, 'Hi, Leah Remini. Go f*** yourself,' I'd be happy to know that she was alive.

"The police department should say, 'Yes, we've seen her.' No, I wasn't told that. I was told that a representative saw her or spoke to her. I'm going to continue to get and gather information."

In a statement released ahead of Remini's eight-part documentary, the church said the actress "seeks publicity by maliciously spreading lies about the Church using the same handful of bitter zealots who were kicked out years ago for chronic dishonesty and corruption and whose false claims the Church refuted years ago, including through judicial decisions".